Grant Kirkpatrick - ASuop President

What brought you to Pacific?

There are several reasons why I chose Pacific to be my home for my undergraduate experience. First, I’ve known for a while that I want to go into the political field, so the proximity of Pacific to Sacramento was very attractive to me. Although, as it turned out, I got much more involved in the local Stockton community through my work with Mayor Michael Tubbs and the San Joaquin Democratic Party. Another thing that convinced me was the close relationship with the Professors. If you ask anyone in my family, or my friends, or anyone that has talked with me for more than 20 minutes, they’ll tell you that I like to ask a lot of questions and generally talk a lot. So the idea of having small class sizes and lots of access to the Professors sounded like the perfect atmosphere for me. Three years in, I’m happy to say that I know I made the right decision.

"I got much more involved in the local Stockton community through my work with Mayor Michael Tubbs and the San Joaquin Democratic Party. "

Grant Kirkpatrick '19

Tell me a little about how you and Emily became running mates.

It happened in quite a serendipitous manner to be honest. Emily came into the office and expressed that she was interested in getting involved with ASuop and was thinking about running for the Senate or applying to join the executive team. She told me all the ways in which she had already gotten involved (joined Kappa Alpha Theta, became a member of Pacific Legal Scholars, worked multiple jobs on-campus, and so on). I was blown away by her level of involvement and engagement, especially considering that this is her first year at Pacific! A few days after our meeting, I asked her if she would be interested in running for Vice President alongside me, and was excited when she agreed. I think it is absolutely essential to plan for the future, which is one of the reasons I wanted Emily to run with me, as she has so much time left at Pacific. I could not have asked for a more energetic, intelligent, motivated, and hard-working running mate.

"I was blown away by her level of involvement and engagement, especially considering that this is her first year at Pacific! "

Grant Kirkpatrick '19

What are the perks of having a second term as President?

There are many perks that come with a second term. The best opportunity I can think of is the ability to carry on your work with the University’s administration for another year. ASuop Presidents typically only get to serve one term, as the President tends to be a student in their final year. This drastically limits their ability to lobby for change because they spend most of their term trying to catch up and understand what is going on at all these committees. By the time you have a grasp on what’s going on you’re on the way out of the door. Another opportunity that comes to mind is that you can apply all the lessons you’ve learned during the first term. I’ll be the first to admit that I have made many mistakes in my first term – it’s the nature of taking on a new job. A second term allows the President to learn from their mistakes and, ideally, have a much more effective second year.

The Associate Students of the University of the Pacific (ASuop) and the Pacific Political Student Association (PPSA) table outside the DeRosa University Center to facilitate voter registrationfor the upcoming elections in California.

Can you describe the importance of voting?

Voting is absolutely essential to the preservation of any democratic institution such as ASuop. When people vote for a candidate, they are typically voting for the person that they believe best reflects their values and priorities. Thus, whomever wins the election has a responsibility to represent those values and priorities that are endorsed by the voters. This is important because the candidate that wins gets to claim a mandate – the voters have empowered them to pursue their agenda. So when it comes time to create our annual budget, advocate for the rights of students, or create new events for students, those values will show. Point being: it is important to vote because the legitimacy of the winner is derived from those who voted for them.